Lack of spring moisture worries KOTA Territory ranchers - KOTA Territory News

Lack of spring moisture worries KOTA Territory ranchers

Snowpack is dropping off rapidly. Most basins around Wyoming now sit at around 50 percent of average or lower.

"From a weather perspective, we're really beginning to get concerned," said Wayne Fahsholtz, who runs the Padlock Ranch outside of Dayton.
 
May and June are key moisture months, he said, and this year, "We're not receiving it."

"So we're irrigating quicker," Fahsholtz went on, "which means that we will irrigate a shorter period of time probably because we rely on reservoir water."
 
Once that's gone, it's gone.
 
"We're predominantly at the mercy of the weather," he said. And the weather just isn't cooperating.
 
"It's well below average for this time of year, and far below last year's," Andrew Cassiday, district conservationist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, said of Wyoming's snowpack.

It's at about 50 percent of average in the Big Horns. But, surprisingly, overall moisture has been about average this year.

So, why aren't ranchers seeing it?
 
"The moisture on the mountain's a whole different beast than the moisture down here," Cassiday said.

"While the snowpack, the precipitation at those SNOTEL sites has been above average, it's also come off early," he said, leaving ranchers to rely on reservoirs.
 
"We're in good shape as far as stocked water goes," Fahsholtz said, "but it could be dry before the year is out."
 
If water does run low like it has in other parts of the country, ranchers may be forced to cut back herds, which could raise beef prices over the next few years.

Fahsholtz said he's also worried about the fire season this year.

In the past, he's had thousands of acres of rangeland burn up, costing him food for his livestock.